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Mixing values and Jesus in secular education
Daniel Dennett calls it the “last big fib.*” The claim that religion and human morality are intimately entwined – that you can’t be good without god. That does seem to be a widely held misconception,...
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Gnu bashing once again
The latest Gallup poll on American’s beliefs about creationism and evolution has predictably raised some comments among bloggers. As expected, there have not been any big changes – most still support...
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Sharp increase in “nones”
The American Values Survey Question Database from the Pew Research Centre suggests that with the new century we may be seeing a marked change in the beliefs of Americans. On the statement “I never...
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Australian census confirms healthy trend
The early results from the Australian 2011 census have appeared. There has been a lot of comment on the trends for religion. The No Religion group has now moved to second place (22.3%), behind Catholic...
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Is there room for religion in science?
Jerry Coyne at Why Evolution is True highly recommends this video (see Dawkins on Al Jazeera). I watched it over lunch and can second his recommendation. It’s an Al Jazeera talk back show – The Stream...
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Therapeutic ranting
Book review: The Atheist Camel Rants Again!: more arguments and observations from the atheist front by Bart Centre. Price: US$10.71; NZ$20.60 Paperback: 326 pages Publisher: CreateSpace (May 25, 2011)...
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Sex, Death And The Meaning Of Life. Episode 3: Meaning
This is the third and last video in the series Sex, Death And The Meaning Of Life. It’s about “meaning.” Richard Dawkins sets out to answer the question he often gets asked - “How do you get up in the...
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Who is guilty of misusing science?
I know someone is going to accuse me of “scientism” for this. But I guess that goes with the science blogger’s job – and it’s a diversion anyway. It will hardly be the first time. What I want to...
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Census 2013: That religion question
Ben Heather, at Stuff, made some comments on the religion question in the NZ Census (see Census 2013: Taking Stock Of New Zealand Society) which need slightly deeper analysis. He said: “Atheism is...
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Interfaith delusions
I am not claiming that “interfaith” activity is bad – obviously it can do a lot to reduce inter-religious friction, hostility and violence. And that is certainly needed in parts of the world today. No...
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Census 2013 – religious diversity
Statistics New Zealand has released preliminary figures for religious affiliation from the 2013 census. The raw figures show for the major affiliations (Christian and No religion) the following:...
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